We finished off the Valentine’s Day cookies…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, food, recipe, tutorial, Valentine's Day

Tags

baking, cherry cordial cookies, chocolate, dessert, food, recipe, scottish shortbread recipe, shortbread, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day cookies

They were delicious! We kept it simple and made just two recipes: Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies.

The Cherry Cordial Cookies recipe was from a Chocolatier magazine from years ago. I cut out the recipe and taped it into my recipe notebook. I should have written down the year but it was probably from the 80’s.

The Shortbread Hearts were made by slightly adapting our traditional Scottish Shortbread recipe. The recipe was handed down from relatives in Scotland for ages. The usual form is patted out into two rounds or pressed into a 9″ x 13″ pan and cut into squares. We always do the square thing just for simplicity.

Here is the original Shortbread Recipe, which takes just 4 ingredients.

Scottish Shortbread
1 lb butter (Note: We use 1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of salted butter for best flavor)
1 1/4 cup fine sugar (Note: We use granulated sugar and process it in a food processor until it is less grainy. It should be half-way between granulated sugar and powdered sugar in texture when you pinch a little bit between your fingers.)
1 1/4 cup cornstarch (Note: Various Scottish relations argue over whether this should be rice flour or not. We stick with corn starch because we like the melt-in-your mouth texture of the baked shortbread.)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Note: We always use unbleached King Arthur flour for best texture and flavor.)

~ Knead ingredients by hand. (…um… we use a mixer…faster and way less messy!)
~ Press into a 9″x13″ pan.
~ Prick dough all over with a fork.
~ Bake at 325 for 50 to 60 minutes. The edges will be light golden brown but the top will still be pale. We usually break open a tiny bit in the middle of the pan to test for doneness in the middle, since these are very thick squares.
~ Cut while warm into 1″ squares.
~ Store at room temp for a couple days. Refrigerate air tight for several weeks. May be frozen, wrapped air tight, for over a month. (We’ve found shortbread in the freezer six months later and it was perfectly fine. It just has to be wrapped well in plastic wrap and then in foil to avoid picking up any off-flavor from the freezer.)

To make the heart shaped shortbread cookies, we added about 1/4 cup extra flour to the recipe to make the dough a little stiffer. The Valentines Day Conversation Heart Cookie Cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

Rolling out the shortbread. The cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

One side of the cutter featured Valentine’s Day sentiments, which were pressed into the shortbread. We also used a fork to press holes around the edges of the cookies.

Valentine Shortbread Heart cookies. We baked them about 20 minutes at 325 but don’t remember the exact timing. They’re very hard to ruin.

A little tray of Shortbread Heart Cookies and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

A little tray of Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

The last three cookies, posing sweetly beside my vanilla bean coffee. I ended up not eating them though, I gave them away.

I didn’t take any photos when we made the Cherry Cordial Cookies but here is the recipe as printed in the magazine.

Cherry Cordial Cookies
1 pkg Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (NOTE: The recipe does not specify the size of bag. 1 cup of chips are used in the cookie dough and the “remaining cup chips” are used in the frosting.)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsifted flour (We use King Arthur unbleached flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 jar (16 oz) maraschino cherries

~ In double boiler, melt 1 cup chocolate chips over 1-inch simmering water.
~ Cream 1/2 cup butter with sugar.
~ Add egg, vanilla and melted chocolate; beat until smooth.
~ Combine flour with baking powder and salt (NOTE: salt is not listed in the ingredients so we figure this was a printing error. We use 1/4 tsp salt); add to creamed mixture, beating until smooth. Chill at least 1 hour.
~ Enclose 1 cherry in 1 tablespoon of dough.
[NOTE: Enclosing that cherry in the dough takes a lot of work! The dough is fairly dry so it has to be squished around the cherry, it can’t be rolled and folded around the cherry. We drain the cherries while the dough is chilling, otherwise, the dough becomes a gooey mess when trying to squeeze it around a squishy cherry. We put a tablespoon of dough in the palm and pressed a little hole in the middle of it to start. Then the cherry was placed into the hole and the crumbly mixture was pressed up over the cherry. Then we carefully squished the whole lump in our fists to close it all up good and tight. Finally, we gently rolled around the lump to make a nice round ball.]
~ Place on greased baking sheet. (Note: we used ungreased, parchment paper-lined baking sheets.)
~ Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. (ours took exactly 15 minutes)
~ Cool on wire rack.
FROSTING:
Melt remaining cup chocolate chips with 2 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup and 1 Tbsp unsalted butter.
(NOTE: We used 1 Tbsp kirsch and 1 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup)
Frost tops of cookies.
YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

It was so tedious forming the Cherry Cordial Cookies that we vowed we would never make them again. But then when we bit into the deep dark chocolate cookie and tasted the exquisite cherry buried within, we decided to make these cookies our new Valentine’s Day tradition.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, dolls, food, recipe, tutorial

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

box of chocolates, chocolate, chocolates, doll-size, miniature, miniature food, valentine s day, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a miniature box of chocolates for you. Click photo to see a larger image.

Even though it’s just a couple minutes into February 15th, I still consider it Valentine’s Day since the day is not done. ;)

This is a doll-sized box of real chocolates. They are tiny, less than 1/4″ across!

I made the miniature box for these chocolates from tissue paper, cardboard and decorative paper.
The chocolates were made from chocolate chips and pieces cut from candy bars.
To decorate the tops, I drizzled melted chocolate on with a toothpick.
The papers for the chocolates were made by pressing a tiny circle of tissue paper over the flat end of a pencil.

Teeny Tiny real Italian Dinner

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, dolls, food, miniature, tutorial

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Tags

Antipasto, Calzone, doll-size food, food, Italian dinner, miniature food, miniature real food, recipes, Spaghetti, Tiramisu, tutorial

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a romantic Teeny Tiny Italian Dinner. Perhaps for teeny tiny appetites. ;)
Back in 2004, I wrote a book for American Girl – Tiny Treats, published in 2006. The book included recipes for making tiny, edible, delicious doll-sized foods. Over 50% of the material got cut in the final editing. This is one of the chapters that didn’t make the cut, probably because it is quite ambitious. Please excuse my photography as these photos were not intended for publication. They were just a guide for the publisher and included with the original manuscript. I didn’t have a very good camera back then, nor did I have Photoshop. Also, the original was written for a child so I removed the “have an adult help you” lines in the directions.
Here you go…. Enjoy!

Teeny Tiny REAL Italian Dinner

BITTY BISTRO ITALIAN DINNER

MENU:

SPAGHETTI
CALZONE
ANTIPASTO tray of BABY CORN, STUFFED PEPPERONI TRIANGLES, OLIVES, TWO-TONE CHEESE, PASTRAMI PINWHEELS and ROASTED RED PEPPERS
CHEESE TRAY
SALAD
TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS
TIRAMISU

SPAGHETTI

Tiny spaghetti

Ingredients:
Ramen Noodles
Spaghetti Sauce
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Small pot

1. Break up a package of Ramen noodles into 4 chunks. You only need one chunk so put the rest of the noodles in a plastic bag for some other time.

Break off a section of Ramen Noodles to use for the tiny spaghetti

2. Cook the piece of the Ramen noodles according to package directions but don’t add the seasoning packet. When the noodles are done cooking, remove from water with a slotted spoon and place on two serving plates.

3. Top noodles with some Spaghetti Sauce and Grated Parmesan Cheese.

CALZONE

Bite Size Calzone

Ingredients:
Refrigerated French Loaf
Pepperoni slices, cut in half
1/4” squares of Montery Jack Cheese
You also need:
Clean scissors
Baking Sheet, greased or covered with Baking Parchment paper

1. Preheat over to 350.

2. Cut a 1/4” thick slice off the French Loaf bread dough with scissors. Pat the dough out to make a 1 1/2” circle.

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator breadstick dough, pepperoni

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator bread dough, pepperoni

3. Place one piece of pepperoni and two squares of Monterey Jack Cheese in the center. Fold the circle in half and pinch the edge tightly shut. Place on the baking sheet.

Prepare the mini calzone using refrigerated bread dough.

4. Bake for 14 minutes or till bottom is golden brown. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

ANTIPASTO

NOT made of clay, this antipasto tray contains real, delicious ingredients.

Appetizer tray of: Baby Corn, Roasted Red Peppers, Pastrami Roll-Ups, Two-Tone Cheese, Mini Olives, Stuffed Pepperoni Triangles

Ingredients:
Baby Corn
Pimientos
3 Slices Pepperoni
1 Thin Slice Pastrami
Cream Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Provolone Cheese
Capers
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Clean Scissors
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

Tiny Antipasto Tray ingredients

1. Cut baby corn into little slices.

2. Stack the three pepperoni slices with cream cheese spread between. Cut with scissors into 6 triangles.

3. Spread pastrami with cream cheese. Roll up. Cut into slices with scissors.

4. Place Swiss Cheese on top of Provolone Cheese slice. Cut with scissors into little squares.

5. Arrange all on a coaster.

CHEESE TRAY

Tiny Cheese Tray

Ingredients:
Various small Cheeses
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Empty, clean bottle cap
One gold candy cup to make the cheese spoon (see further down this post for directions)
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

1. Cut cheeses into small pieces and arrange on serving platter.

Cheeses for the tiny cheese tray

2. Spoon some grated Parmesan Cheese into the bottle cap. 3. Make a small spoon for the Parmesan Cheese by cutting a tiny spoon shape from the gold candy cup.

SALAD

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut grape or cherry tomatoes into tiny pieces

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. The green onion looks like full size onion slices and the capers look like olives.

Ingredients:
Lettuce
1 Green onion
Cherry or Grape tomatoes
Capers

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut any other salad ingredients you want into tiny pieces.

TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS

Tiny Toothpick Breadsticks

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Breadstick dough
Olive or Vegetable Oil
Salt
You also need:
Clean Scissors
Clean Brush
Baking Sheet

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Unroll one Breadstick from the dough. Use scissors to cut the Breadstick into 4 pieces and roll each piece to make an 8” snake. Use scissors to cut the 8” piece into 4 pieces. Roll each piece as long as a toothpick.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients - refrigerated bread dough and salt.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients – refrigerated breadstick dough and salt.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size pieces.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size sticks.

3. Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Brush dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt.

4. Place on a baking sheet and bake 6 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Watch closely as they bake quickly!

TIRAMISU

This miniature Tiramisu is delicious!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Vanilla Ice Cream
1/8 teaspoon Instant Decaffeinated Coffee dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon Hot Water
3 Nilla Wafers
Chocolate Frosting
Whipped Cream
1/2 teaspoon Mini Chocolate Chips
You also need:
1/4 Measuring Cup lined with Plastic Wrap
Spoon

1. Mix Cream Cheese with Vanilla Ice Cream and the dissolved coffee. The Ice Cream will melt and the mixture will look lumpy but that’s ok.

Ingredients used for the tiny Tiramisu

2. Frost the Nilla Wafer cookies with Chocolate Frosting.

The ingredients for Tiramisu, ready for assembly

3. Spoon a little Cream Cheese mixture into the measuring cup. Press a Nilla Wafer cookie down into the bottom of the measuring cup. Add some more Cream Cheese mixture and another cookie. Add more Cream Cheese mixture and the last cookie. Top with the rest of the Cream Cheese mixture. Let set about 20 minutes so the cookies can soak up the Cream Cheese mixture a little.

4. Place in freezer for 2 hours or overnight. Take the Tiramisu out of the freezer and place it on a saucer. Remove the plastic wrap.

5. To serve: Slice into 4 pieces and top each with a little Whipped Cream and Mini Chocolate Chips.

A tiny slice of Tiramisu

BITTY BISTRO CRAFTS

RED & WHITE TABLE CLOTH and NAPKINS

Tiny napkins and a red and white checked cloth napkin to use as a tablecloth

Use a red and white checked cloth napkin for a tablecloth.
Cut a red napkin or piece of red fabric into 4 inch squares.
Roll up the napkin and tape a small strip of white paper around it.
CANDLE
Place a white candle in a small jar at the center of the table.
TRAYS FOR ANTIPASTO AND CHEESES
Use clean, wood or cork coasters.
BASKET FOR BREADSTICKS
Line a small basket with a piece of fabric or paper napkin.
GOLD PLATES FOR TIRAMISU
Cut most of the side off a small gold candy cup. The base of the candy cup makes a perfect dessert plate for creamy desserts.

Cut the rim off a plastic candy cup to use as a little dessert plate

TINY SPOON FOR GRATED CHEESE

Cut a spoon shape from the side and bottom of a gold candy cup

Cut a tiny spoon shape from a small gold candy cup. The handle of the spoon is cut from the side of the candy cup. The bowl of the spoon is cut from the base of the candy cup.

Please leave a comment if you make this dinner. I would love to know what you think of it! We thoroughly enjoyed it. The only problem was there was too little of everything.

A miniature, Italian Dinner, REAL, totally edible and completely delicious. Click photo to see the larger, original photograph.

Greek Yogurt with Kumquats and Cardamom

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in food

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breakfast, food, Greek yogurt, kumquats

This morning I wanted a simple breakfast, something that didn’t take long to make but could take a long time to savor if I was so inclined. I was in a lot of pain and didn’t want to fuss with a skillet or heavy jug of milk. So I settled on my favorite: Greek Yogurt with thinly sliced Kumquats, Macadamias, unsweetened coconut flakes and a generous sprinkling of Cardamom.
I took this photo a couple years ago but this morning’s bowl of yogurt looked every bit as sublime.

Greek Yogurt with kumquats, macadamias, unsweetened coconut and cardamom.

We get our cardamom from Penzeys Spices. Even though ground cardamom is very strong in flavor, I still sprinkle it over yogurt generously; it compliments the kumquats and the creaminess of Greek Yogurt beautifully.
The coconut is from King Arthur Flour. I disliked coconut until I discovered these big beautiful unsweetened flakes from King Arthur. They are delicious! I also use them to top Coconut Cupcakes (shown in the Dessert Buffet I did last year) and Coconut Cream Pies.
Macadamias add the perfect salty buttery crunch.
It’s impossible to eat a bowl with so much sunshine in it without getting cheered.

My Grandson turned two!

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, birthday, family, food

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birthday cake, cake, construction zone cake, dessert, diagonal cake layers, diagonal striped cake, food, striped layers

I’m not quite mobile yet so my 19 year old son made the awesome birthday cake and my oldest son, Everett’s dad, took photos. We used our own recipes for the Vanilla and Devil’s Food Cake layers but followed this site for the construction of the diagonal layers. Totally cool cake for a little boy!

When he first saw the cake, two year old Everett placed his elbows on the table and just stared at the cake dreamily.

Checking out the awesome construction toys on the cake.

Getting more excited!

Moving in close enough to smell all the chocolatey goodness of the Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Oreos.

As soon as he realized he could eat the cake, he ran to the kitchen asking for a fork even before we lit the candles and sang. He paused his careful tasting long enough to blow out the two little candles.

Cutting the chocolate and vanilla layers to construct the diagonal stripes was challenging and took precision. I had never made a cake like this before so my son was on his own to figure it all out. He custom chose the recipes that he thought would work best. He did a terrific job!

Construction Zone cake with diagonal layers.

Thanks to Lauren for her excellent tutorial!

Pasta Rose Salad

11 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in food, recipe, tutorial

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

food, homemade pasta, pasta, pasta rose, Pasta Rose Salad, pasta salad, rose, salad

Last week I made a Pasta Rose Salad.

Pasta Rose Salad – fresh pasta, homemade tomato sauce with garlic and Greek Basil, Spinach Leaves, Thai Basil leaves, toasted walnuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and drizzled with Olive Oil.

I made a Pasta Rose a couple months ago but didn’t have any tutorial photos so last week I decided to make the tutorial. This post has 40 photographs to show the detailed process. Sorry for the blurred photos. My son Ethan prepared the pasta dough for me.

We used this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=288125 for the pasta dough and mixed the ingredients in the mixer bowl.

The pasta dough was placed on a floured surface and kneaded.

Kneading the pasta dough

The dough was pressed flat, wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled for about 1 hour.

I have a hand crank pasta machine but prefer the efficiency of the KitchenAid pasta attachment. A floured ball of dough, about the size of a small fist, is placed in the top of the pasta machine, with the plain rollers and thickness setting 1.

The flattened dough that comes out of the machine is folded in half and then run through the rollers on setting 1 again.

Each time the dough is passed through the rollers, the texture becomes finer, stretchier and less lumpy.

Once the dough is fine enough, usually after 5 or 6 passes, the setting is changed to 2 and the dough is passed through without folding it in half.

The settings are changed with each pass of the dough. The dough is kept brushed with flour so it won’t stick to the rollers. When the dough becomes too long or too wide to fit the roller, it is cut into smaller pieces.

The final width of the pasta is 2 1/2″ or 3″ wide with a thickness setting of 7 on the machine, which is quite thin. about 1.5 mm.

The floured strips of pasta were laid on a floured surface as we completed each one. They were then hung from a rack for an hour or two until cooked. I did not want them drying out lest they crack so we covered them with a towel.

One long piece of pasta makes one rose and a bud or two. I forgot to measure the length but it was about 2 or 3 feet long.

One long piece of pasta is dropped into boiling water.

Pasta cooking.

The pasta is cooked about six minutes or so, till el dente.

Steaming pasta in the colander.

One long piece of pasta is used to make the rose. The pasta rose is formed while the pasta is still hot but will be cool by the time the plate is finished. If you want a warm dish, the plate will need warming, with the greens added right before serving.

Begin the rose at the center. Starting at one end of the long pasta ribbon, the pasta is folded and rolled to form the center bud.

With the bud in the left hand, the long ribbon of pasta is wrapped around the bud clockwise. Occasionally the long ribbon of pasta is folded over to form a folded edge of a petal.

Once enough of the rose is established, it is placed on the serving plate and the folding and wrapping of the pasta ribbon continues around the rose.

When the rose is the size desired, any excess pasta is cut off and the rose is positioned as desired.

To make a rose bud, start with a 5″ piece of pasta ribbon and fold the right side forward diagonally.

Make another fold on the opposite side toward the center, forming a pointed triangle.

Slightly scrunch up the base of the piece to form a bud.

Place the bud partially under the edge of the rose.

A second rose bud is formed and placed under the other side of the rose.
We made a tomato sauce by simmering diced tomatoes with garlic, sea salt and chopped Greek Basil.
Spinach leaves are tucked around the rose.

A paint brush is used to brush tomato sauce between the rose petals.

A small spoonful of sauce is placed in the center of the rose.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is drizzled over the top of the pasta and spinach leaves.

Thai basil is spicier than broad leaf basil and has a delicious anise flavor. I placed one Thai basil leaf on top of several of the spinach leaves for color and flavor.

Toasted walnuts are placed on the plate with the spinach leaves and Parmigiano Reggiano is grated over the top. The final garnish is a small cluster of Thai Basil.

The completed Pasta Rose Salad. Please click photo to see a larger image.

I ended up chilling the first Pasta Rose so I threw together one to eat. Here is my Thrown Together Pasta Rose.

Thrown-together Pasta Rose, served warm. It was ugly and absolutely delicious!

The Thai Basil and toasted walnuts are key to making this dish delicious. It’s also critical to make the pasta thin for forming the rose and making the serving size not too big.
This is the Pasta Rose I made several months ago.

Pasta Rose Salad

I love both versions and look forward to making this for lunch guests. This dish takes a while to make so make it early in the day for dinner guests. Better yet, make it the day before, covering each complete plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate. It keeps well till the next day for a luncheon. Remover from refrigerator about an hour before serving.

First Ripe Figs!

04 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in food, gardening

≈ 4 Comments

Last month we checked our two fig trees and were dismayed that something was eating them. Judging from the strange markings, we figured that birds were pecking them. I bought two big fruit tree nets and we spread the netting over the trees. That worked!

Fig tree covered with netting.

We’ve had a really wet summer so some of the fig skins are bursting. And Some of the figs are getting eaten by bees, flies and ants. But those insects seem to focus on already eaten fruit and leave the rest alone. So we picked a nice bowl full.

Juicy figs with bursting skins.

They are sweet and juicy, with subtle watermelon and peach notes. For an afternoon treat, we spread cream cheese on homemade rolls, topped with fresh sliced figs and then drizzled with honey friends had given us from their neighborhood hive. Absolutely delicious!

Homemade rolls topped with cream cheese, fresh sliced figs and drizzled with honey. Delicious!

Lemon Meringue Pie with Beads of Amber

28 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, food

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Tags

amber, baking, food, lemon, Lemon Meringue Pie, meringue, pie

According to baking tradition, having any kind of liquid appear on the top of baked meringue is a total Meringue Fail. The beauty in meringue is supposed to be in its height, its glossy whiteness between peaks of crisp golden brown, its smooth surface completely devoid of any type of liquid whatsoever.

We followed the recipe in Williams Sonoma’s Essentials of Baking, but added an extra teaspoon of grated lemon peel to the filling. We poured the hot filling into the room-temp crust and topped it with the fluffy meringue mixture. We baked it, cooled it and then chilled it. When we removed the pie from its cold storage container, we were surprised and delighted.

Let it be known, that We, the Three Bakers of This Pie, are declaring this day, July 28th, in the year 2012, that Baking Tradition has given mankind an undue burden by requiring a perfect meringue-topped pie to have a glossy surface of white and crisp, pale brown peaks, unspoilt by any liquid.

Furthermore, We, the Three Bakers of This Pie, do declare that a perfect Lemon Meringue Pie shall have a beautiful white and golden surface, festooned with garlands of glorious amber beads that magically appear on the chilled pie.

Moreover, We, the Three Bakers of This Pie, do declare that these stunning, light-refracting beads of rare nectar, should be in some places randomly scattered over the meringue and pale yellow in color, while other darker gold-flecked beads be arrayed as a brilliant strand of the most valuable natural Baltic Amber, nestled in the velvet cleavage of meringue rings.

Therefore, We, the Three Bakers of This Pie, do declare this Lemon Meringue Pie to be perfect.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie – festooned with garlands of glorious golden nectar, strung with strands of rare topaz and gold-flecked amber.

So be it.

Dessert Buffet

30 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, food, party

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

baking, banana pudding, catering, coconut cupcakes, dessert buffet, desserts, food, key lime pie bars, party, peach melba, peach melba shortcake, pecan pie, pecan tarts, petit fours, strawberry trifle

Several weeks ago I catered a wedding rehearsal event – Individual size Southern-style desserts for 85. I was quite busy with the preparation so these are all the photos I took. It was my first non-wedding cake event. I will say, making individual size servings of seven different desserts for 85 people is much more complicated than making a wedding cake for 250! Whew! I was thrilled that it turned out so well. Three of my sons did a fantastic job helping the day of the event. So very thankful for their help.

I prepared 24 separate recipes for all the components. I didn’t have time to make the Silk Buttercream for the Pecan Tarts so I had to use a simple buttercream instead but everything else went according to plan. Not seen well in the photos: bowls of Peanut Brittle, Spiced Pecans, Fresh Strawberries. Also: Pink Lemonade, Strawberry and Orange stick candy.

Dessert Buffet

One of the beautiful bouquets from the buffet table, given to me by my dear friend after the event. I was not able to get a photo of the table with the bouquets but it looked lovely!

Banana Puddings, garnished with a mini Banana Spice Cookie with Lemon Frosting.

Banana Pudding

Half-size Toasted Coconut Cupcakes, garnished with unsweetened Toasted Coconut and large Coconut Flakes.

Coconut Cupcake

Key Lime Pie Bars, garnished with a thin slice of Key lime.

Key Lime Pie Bars

Peach Melba Shortcake, served with Fresh Raspberry Mousse, a Cinnamon Biscuit and Vanilla Bean Cream.

Pecan Tarts – one sweet bite of Pecan Pie.

Petit Fours – Lemon Sponge Cake with raspberry jam and Almond Poured Fondant.

Petit Fours

Strawberry Trifle – layers of sherry-soaked Vanilla Bean cake with Italian Custard and strawberries.

Ballerina Cake Pops!

09 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, birthday, crafts, family, food, party, projects, tutorial

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

ballerina, ballerina banner, ballerina cake pops, birthday, birthday party ideas, cake pops, decorated cake, food, girl's party, honeycomb, honeycomb banner

Here are more photos from my granddaughter’s 4th birthday party. This is a long post with many photos. Please click on a photo to see a larger version if you wish. I made Ballerina Cake Pops for her in her favorite colors, purple and pink.

Ballerina Cake Pops

I drew little ballerinas on white plastic cut from clean buttermilk jugs. Then I carefully cut them out using embroidery scissors. The cake balls were made and chilled and then I inserted the ballerina into the cake ball. You can see the feet of the ballerinas sticking out of the bottom of several of the cake balls. It would have been easier to just make picks but I wanted my Granddaughter to have a little plastic ballerina to play with when she was done eating the cake pop, so of course they had to have legs.

Since there was a ballerina in the cake pop, I could not dip it as usual. I spread the melted white chocolate around the ball with an offset spatula. These were placed in styrofoam and then placed in the refrigerator to chill.

The prepared cake pops were allowed to come to room temperature before piping rows of sugar ruffles using a small rose tip.

All the cake pops were placed on a stage made of styrofoam around which I pinned crepe paper streamers and gilded trim.

She loved the Ballerina Cake Pops. I was so happy!

I made a banner of ballerinas but forgot to take a photo of them hanging at the party. Here are photos of the construction.

Honeycomb Ballerina Banner

The ballerinas were drawn in Photoshop, based on a similar project in Marie Claire Idees magazine. I had to modify the Marie Claire version since it was flat, not with a full honeycomb skirt. Here you can see the honeycomb bridal shower garland from which I cut the skirts.

The ballerinas are drying after I applied glue and glitter to the shoes, bodices and tiaras.

The ballerinas are prepared for hanging. A single thin wire will be attached through a pinhole at the top of each ballerina and strung with crystal beads.

The ballerinas are hung temporarily in my dining room as I work on the hanging wires on each one They looked lovely at the party and I’m sorry I forgot to get a photo.